Vindaloo
Vindaloo is a traditional Indian curry that’s not for the faint hearted! Chunks of beef are slow-cooked to tender perfection in a fiery-red sauce packed with big, bold curry flavours. Is it spicy? Heck yes, as it should be! For serious curry lovers, it’s hard to top this.
Serve with naan for mopping and yogurt to cool that fire.
Ingredients
- 800 g / 1.6 lb beef chuck cut into 3cm / 1.2″ cubes (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- CURRY PASTE:
- 6 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder – TEST spiciness before using! Note 2
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 3 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 cloves
- 4 cardamom pods green
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger roughly chopped
- 10 garlic cloves yes, 10!
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds Note 3
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 100 ml white vinegar
- 500 ml water
- CURRY SAUCE:
- 50 g / 3 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter Note 4
- 1 onion finely chopped (brown, yellow, white)
- 2 tsp ginger finely grated
- 4 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds Note 5
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 10 curry leaves fresh (Note 6)
- 500 ml beef stock low sodium (if using homemade, add 1/2 tsp salt)
- GARNISH:
- 2 tbsp coriander/cilantro leaves roughly chopped
Instructions
- Salt beef: Toss beef in salt.
- Check spiciness of kashmiri chilli powder and adjust if desired. See Spiciness Note below.
- Curry Paste: Place Curry Paste ingredients in a Nutribullet or small food processor with 1 cup of the water. Blitz until smooth. Pour over beef. Pour remaining 1 cup water into Nutribullet, shake (to clean out remaining curry paste), then pour/scrape over beef.
- Marinate beef: Mix beef in curry paste, cover, then marinate 2 hours. (Note: marinade is fairly thin – the water cooks down during slow cooking.)
- Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F (170°C fan).
- Curry sauce: Melt ghee over medium high. Cook onion, ginger and garlic until they become translucent – about 3 minutes.
- Mustard seeds: Add black mustard seeds then cook until onion is tinged with gold. Stir in tomato paste, cook 1 minute.
- Puree sauce: Add beef stock, stir. Transfer into a jug then use a stick blender to puree until smooth. Pour back into the pot.
- Add beef: Add beef and curry leaves, stir then bring to boil.
- Slow cook: Cover with a lid, then place in the oven for 2 hours or until beef is fall apart tender and the sauce has darkened in colour and thickened. (See Note 7 if sauce hasn't reduced enough).
- Serve: Garnish with coriander, then serve over basmati rice with a side of naan!
Video
Notes
Spiciness of this dish – 7 to 8 out of 10 on the spiciness scale! Not blow-your-head-off but it’s pretty spicy!
SPICE CONTROL:
Spiciness in this comes from Kashmiri. !-! Strongly advised to taste the Kashmiri chilli before using, because not all kashmiri is created equal, some is spicier than others and brands DO NOT specify spiciness. Kashmiri chilli is medium level of spiciness (about 1/4 to 1/3 strength of black pepper) BUT sometimes outliers are extremely spicy. If it is very spicy and you’re worried, reduce spiciness per directions below. Reduce spiciness by reducing Kashmiri. For every 1 tablespoon for Kashmiri you reduce, replace with 1 teaspoon of SWEET/REGULAR paprika + 1 teaspoon of SMOKED paprika (not spicy, has a smoky flavour like Kashmiri chilli). Stir in chilli powder (pure chilli, not US chilli powder mix) or cayenne pepper at the end if you want it spicier. Note: curry colour won’t be as red as redness comes from Kashmiri. Can compensate with a drop or two or red food colouring, if desperate! 1. Beef – Beef chuck works well because it’s a tough cut that becomes “fall apart tender” after slow cooking. Boneless ribs will also work as would beef osso bucco (use 1.2kg / 2.4lb inc bone, keep them whole, the meat will fall off in pieces once slow cooked). If you can get well marbled brisket, that will also work but I find a brisket a bit stringy cooked in stew-like form. Other proteins – Lamb shoulder and pork shoulder will work too. For chicken, use about 1 kg / 2lb bone in chicken thighs but remove the skin. Cut in half along bone (equal size pieces). Make recipe as written except cook in oven for 50 minutes. Remove chicken pieces (make sure they are pretty tender), then simmer sauce on stove (very low heat) to reduce and thicken sauce (see video for how it should look, ~ 30 min I think). Return chicken into pot, serve! 2. Kashmiri chilli – TASTE IT before using quantity per recipe. Wet finger, lightly press into Kashmiri and taste. Super spicy? Start with less – you can always add more at the end.
Kashmiri is a spicy, smokey Indian chilli powder that gives this curry the red colour plus spiciness. Sub with 4 tbsp smoked paprika + 1 tsp chilli powder (not US Chili Powder which is a blend) or cayenne pepper. Pretty close flavour but, you won’t get quite the same red colour.
Also used in: Goan Fish Curry, Tandoori Chicken 3. Fenugreek seeds – Available at stores that carry a decent range of spices. Also, of course, at Indian grocery stores! Use leftover for Palak Paneer. 4. Ghee is clarified butter, one of the traditional fats used in Indian cooking. It is simply butter without the water and milk solids, so you have pure butter fat, it has a more intense flavour than butter. Either buy it, make it (easy and keeps for months) or just use normal butter! 5. Black mustard seeds – key ingredient for authentic flavour. Look like poppyseeds, wasabi bite, Indian aroma! Also used in: Eggplant Curry, Dal, Vegetable Samosa Pie, Cabbage Thoran. Substitutes (starting with best): Brown mustard seeds, yellow mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp mustard powder*, 1 1/2 tsp Garam Masala (different flavour, but is intended to make up for absence) 6. Fresh curry leaves – key ingredient for authentic flavour! Sub dried curry leaves. Store leftovers in fridge (weeks) or freezer (months). Also used in: Eggplant Brinjal Curry, Vegetable Samosa Pie, Cabbage Thoran (seriously good!), Lentil curry. Substitute: dried curry leaves, 1.5 tsp Garam Masala powder (add it with rest of spices, different flavour but compensates). 7. Sauce thickness – If the sauce is not darker and thicker at the end of the slow cooking time, then just reduce on the stove on low heat with the lid off. This can happen if you didn’t use a heavy based pot like a dutch oven (heat retention is better = sauce cooks as intended). 8. Slow cooker / pressure cooker / Instant Pot – Won’t work for this, I’m afraid. Really need the oven to caramelise the edges and surface of the sauce which makes it darken and adds flavour, plus some evaporation which helps thicken the sauce. Slow cooker just won’t taste as good. 9. Storage – Leftovers will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge. But I find with curries (unlike Western stews) they are best eaten on the day, or the next day. After this, the intensity of the spice flavours will start to fade. 10. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings. Excludes rice. NUTRITION INFORMATION: Calories:441cal (22%) Carbohydrates:12g (4%) Protein:35g (70%) Fat:29g (45%) Saturated Fat:14g (88%) Trans Fat:1g Cholesterol:136mg (45%) Sodium:803mg (35%) Potassium:950mg (27%) Fiber:3g (13%) Sugar:3g (3%) Vitamin A:527IU (11%) Vitamin C:47mg (57%) Calcium:105mg (11%) Iron:5mg (28%)
Spiciness in this comes from Kashmiri. !-! Strongly advised to taste the Kashmiri chilli before using, because not all kashmiri is created equal, some is spicier than others and brands DO NOT specify spiciness. Kashmiri chilli is medium level of spiciness (about 1/4 to 1/3 strength of black pepper) BUT sometimes outliers are extremely spicy. If it is very spicy and you’re worried, reduce spiciness per directions below. Reduce spiciness by reducing Kashmiri. For every 1 tablespoon for Kashmiri you reduce, replace with 1 teaspoon of SWEET/REGULAR paprika + 1 teaspoon of SMOKED paprika (not spicy, has a smoky flavour like Kashmiri chilli). Stir in chilli powder (pure chilli, not US chilli powder mix) or cayenne pepper at the end if you want it spicier. Note: curry colour won’t be as red as redness comes from Kashmiri. Can compensate with a drop or two or red food colouring, if desperate! 1. Beef – Beef chuck works well because it’s a tough cut that becomes “fall apart tender” after slow cooking. Boneless ribs will also work as would beef osso bucco (use 1.2kg / 2.4lb inc bone, keep them whole, the meat will fall off in pieces once slow cooked). If you can get well marbled brisket, that will also work but I find a brisket a bit stringy cooked in stew-like form. Other proteins – Lamb shoulder and pork shoulder will work too. For chicken, use about 1 kg / 2lb bone in chicken thighs but remove the skin. Cut in half along bone (equal size pieces). Make recipe as written except cook in oven for 50 minutes. Remove chicken pieces (make sure they are pretty tender), then simmer sauce on stove (very low heat) to reduce and thicken sauce (see video for how it should look, ~ 30 min I think). Return chicken into pot, serve! 2. Kashmiri chilli – TASTE IT before using quantity per recipe. Wet finger, lightly press into Kashmiri and taste. Super spicy? Start with less – you can always add more at the end.
Kashmiri is a spicy, smokey Indian chilli powder that gives this curry the red colour plus spiciness. Sub with 4 tbsp smoked paprika + 1 tsp chilli powder (not US Chili Powder which is a blend) or cayenne pepper. Pretty close flavour but, you won’t get quite the same red colour.
Also used in: Goan Fish Curry, Tandoori Chicken 3. Fenugreek seeds – Available at stores that carry a decent range of spices. Also, of course, at Indian grocery stores! Use leftover for Palak Paneer. 4. Ghee is clarified butter, one of the traditional fats used in Indian cooking. It is simply butter without the water and milk solids, so you have pure butter fat, it has a more intense flavour than butter. Either buy it, make it (easy and keeps for months) or just use normal butter! 5. Black mustard seeds – key ingredient for authentic flavour. Look like poppyseeds, wasabi bite, Indian aroma! Also used in: Eggplant Curry, Dal, Vegetable Samosa Pie, Cabbage Thoran. Substitutes (starting with best): Brown mustard seeds, yellow mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp mustard powder*, 1 1/2 tsp Garam Masala (different flavour, but is intended to make up for absence) 6. Fresh curry leaves – key ingredient for authentic flavour! Sub dried curry leaves. Store leftovers in fridge (weeks) or freezer (months). Also used in: Eggplant Brinjal Curry, Vegetable Samosa Pie, Cabbage Thoran (seriously good!), Lentil curry. Substitute: dried curry leaves, 1.5 tsp Garam Masala powder (add it with rest of spices, different flavour but compensates). 7. Sauce thickness – If the sauce is not darker and thicker at the end of the slow cooking time, then just reduce on the stove on low heat with the lid off. This can happen if you didn’t use a heavy based pot like a dutch oven (heat retention is better = sauce cooks as intended). 8. Slow cooker / pressure cooker / Instant Pot – Won’t work for this, I’m afraid. Really need the oven to caramelise the edges and surface of the sauce which makes it darken and adds flavour, plus some evaporation which helps thicken the sauce. Slow cooker just won’t taste as good. 9. Storage – Leftovers will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge. But I find with curries (unlike Western stews) they are best eaten on the day, or the next day. After this, the intensity of the spice flavours will start to fade. 10. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings. Excludes rice. NUTRITION INFORMATION: Calories:441cal (22%) Carbohydrates:12g (4%) Protein:35g (70%) Fat:29g (45%) Saturated Fat:14g (88%) Trans Fat:1g Cholesterol:136mg (45%) Sodium:803mg (35%) Potassium:950mg (27%) Fiber:3g (13%) Sugar:3g (3%) Vitamin A:527IU (11%) Vitamin C:47mg (57%) Calcium:105mg (11%) Iron:5mg (28%)
